Celebrating sixty years of cartoons
601964–2024
Sixty years of drawing us together.
60
Welcome
Welcome to LAT 60, a celebration of sixty years of Lat’s cartoons and of one of Malaysia’s most beloved artists, Seniman Negara Datuk Mohammad Nor bin Mohd Khalid, endearingly known by all as Lat.
The sixty years are counted from June 1964, when Sinaran Brothers published his comic book Tiga Sekawan without knowing that the artist was still a schoolboy. He has been making the country laugh ever since.
Lat is a national treasure, and all of us know his characters on sight: the boy with the spiky hair, the checked sarong and a big smile (exactly like Lat himself), the mothers, the schoolteachers, the uncles at the coffee shop. From 1974 to 2014 his strip Scenes of Malaysian Life ran in the New Straits Times, capturing the essence of Malaysian life: the authenticity, charm and innocence of its multicultural communities, which have endeared him to generations of Malaysians.
The honours have followed. The Kampung Boy has been translated into 14 languages, and its animated series won Best TV Series at Annecy in France in 1999, at the world’s oldest and largest animation festival. Lat received the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2002, the Merdeka Award in 2014, the title of Seniman DiRaja in 2023 and the Anugerah Seniman Negara in 2024, among many others.
In September 2024, during Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Week, Monash University Malaysia had the joy of celebrating the anniversary with him. An exhibition of his work opened in the Library and Learning Commons, and on 5 September Lat himself came to campus. He spoke with Dr Jalaini Abu Hassan (Jai) in front of more than 300 Monash staff, students and guests of all ages, and then drew at the easel. Many more queued for his autograph, among them a 21-year-old student who asked him to sign his electric guitar.
We Malaysians are very proud to have Datuk Lat, and still want him to warm our hearts with his special brand of humour. I thank him for permission to reproduce his work and for his generous time, and my colleagues across Monash University Malaysia who made the exhibition and this booklet possible. Happy sixtieth anniversary, Datuk Lat, and thank you.
Dr Nazirul Hazim
- Curator, LAT 60
- Co-lead, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Week 2024
- Member, EDI Committee
- Lecturer, Econometrics & Business Statistics
- Monash University Malaysia
In his own hand
’s message.
“My hope is that we will be true friends forever.”
Lat’s own lettering, in Malay; the English is our translation.
601964–2024
Sixty years of drawing us together.
The rest of the site
Every part of LAT 60.
- Story From kampung boy to National Artist: Lat’s life in five chapters, and six decades of his work, year by year.
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on life
Lat’s own words from his conversation with Dr Jalaini Abu Hassan (Jai) at Monash University Malaysia, set beside his drawings.
- Cartoons Every cartoon of the LAT 60 exhibition panels, from the Kampung Boy to the covers of his books. Select one to see it full size.
- 2024 September 2024 at Monash University Malaysia: the exhibition of Lat’s cartoons, and Lat in conversation with Dr Jalaini Abu Hassan (Jai).
- Galeri Galeri Rumah Lat at Batu Gajah, Perak, opened on 8 July 2023: the gallery of Lat’s work and the traditional Perak house beside it.
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MONASH BY
Lat drew the word MONASH as six pieces of Malaysia. The collection was launched with the opening of The Monash Shop (Malaysia) on 20 October 2026.
“I drew everybody.”
Lat, at Monash University Malaysia, 5 September 2024
Sixty years of Lat’s cartoons: his life in five chapters, his own words from the 2024 conversation at Monash, and 137 of his drawings, from The Kampung Boy to MONASH BY LAT.
LAT 60 · 1964–2024
